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Scientific meeting

Sustainable metals: science and systems

Scientific discussion meeting organised by Professor Julian M Allwood FREng and Professor Dierk Raabe.

Add to Calendar 02/05/24 09:00 AM 02/06/24 05:00 PM United Kingdom (GMT) Sustainable metals: science and systems <p>Scientific discussion meeting organised by Professor Julian M Allwood FREng and Professor Dierk Raabe.</p> The Royal Society, London, SW1Y 5AG
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Overview Organisers Programme

Overview

Scientific discussion meeting organised by Professor Julian M Allwood FREng and Professor Dierk Raabe.

Discussions on global warming and metal production suffer from a disconnect between environmental systems analysis which is technologically vague and materials innovations that cannot scale sufficiently to have meaningful impact. The meeting aims to nucleate a new research community focused on scalable solutions that will allow the global metals system to function with zero emissions by 2050.

The schedule of talks and speaker biographies are available below. Speaker abstracts will be available closer to the meeting date. Meeting papers will be published in a future issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A.

Poster session

There will be a poster session on Monday 5 February. If you would like to apply to present a poster please submit your proposed title, abstract (not more than 200 words and in third person), author list, name of the proposed presenter and institution to the Scientific Programmes team no later than Friday 8 December. Please include the text ‘Poster abstract submission’ in the email subject line. Please note that places are limited and posters are selected at the scientific organisers’ discretion.

Attending this event

This event is intended for researchers in relevant fields.

  • Free to attend, an optional lunch is available to purchase during registration
  • Both in-person and online attendance available
  • Advance registration is essential

To view the programme, please scroll down and select the day on the left-hand side. Click the arrows to view the speakers and talks.

Enquiries: contact the Scientific Programmes team

Electric arc furnace
Image credit: zephylwer0 from Pixabay

Organisers

Professor Julian M Allwood FREng, University of Cambridge, UK

Professor Julian M Allwood FREng, University of Cambridge, UK

Julian Allwood is Professor of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Cambridge and directs the Use Less Group. His research aims to articulate a pathway to zero emissions based on technologies that already exist at scale. From 2019–24 he is director of UK FIRES, a £5m industry and multi-university programme aiming to explore all aspects of Industrial Strategy compatible with delivering zero emissions by 2050. Julian was a Lead Author of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with a focus on mitigating industrial emissions. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Materials, Minerals and Mining, a Fellow of the International Academy of Production Engineering and for ten years was joint editor-in-chief of the Journal of Materials Processing Technology. In 2021 he was awarded the triennial JSTP International Prize for Research and Development in Precision Forging.

Professor Dierk Raabe, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Germany

Professor Dierk Raabe, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Germany

Dierk Raabe studied music, metallurgy and metal physics. After his doctorate in 1992 and habilitation in 1997 at RWTH Aachen he received a Heisenberg Fellowship of the German Research Foundation and worked as postdoc at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA) and at the National High Magnet Field Lab (Tallahassee, USA). He joined the Max Planck Society as a Director in 1999. His interests are in computational materials science, sustainable metallurgy, phase transformation, alloy design, hydrogen and atom probe tomography. He received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award of the German Science Foundation, two ERC Advanced Grants and the Acta Materialia Gold Medal Award. He is a Professor at RWTH Aachen in Germany and Honorary Professor at KU Leuven in Belgium. He holds an honorary doctorate degree of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim and is a member of the German National Academy Leopoldina.

Schedule

09:00-12:30
Session 1
4 talks
09:00-09:05
Introduction
09:05-09:30
Decarbonising the global metals industry in a resource-constrained future – a systems perspective

Speakers

Dr Takuma Watari, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan

Dr Takuma Watari, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan

Takuma is a tenure-track researcher at the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan, and a JSPS Research Fellow at Leiden University, the Netherlands. Previously, he worked at the University of Cambridge, UK, and the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. His primary research interests include industrial decarbonisation, responsible supply of critical materials, and international equity in resource use. His work combines traditional engineering principles with systems analysis, and has been published in leading multidisciplinary scientific journals. He currently leads several research projects on sustainable materials use and works closely with government and industry to apply a systems perspective to decision-making.

09:30-09:45
Discussion
09:45-10:15
A key feedback loop: electrifying metals production to electrify society

Speakers

Dr Katrin Daehn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Dr Katrin Daehn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Katie grew up in Columbus, Ohio and earned her BS in Materials Science and Engineering at the Ohio State University in 2015. She then went onto a PhD in Engineering at the University of Cambridge (completed in 2019) as a Cambridge Trust scholar, working with Professor Julian Allwood on end-of-life steel recycling. She is now a postdoctoral researcher in the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium helping to develop cross-sector strategies to decarbonize the global economy. Achievements she is particularly proud of include receiving the Goldwater scholarship, authoring the Top Policy paper in Environmental Science and Technology (2017), and working with a team to extract copper and iron from ore using only electricity in Professor Antoine Allanore’s lab. She is a third-generation metallurgist and wants to spend her career improving the management of Earth’s resources.

10:15-10:30
Discussion
10:30-11:00
Break
11:00-11:30
Sustainable extraction of non-ferrous metals

Speakers

Professor Helmut Antrekowitsch, University of Leoben, Austria

Professor Helmut Antrekowitsch, University of Leoben, Austria

Professor Helmut Antrekowitsch worked as a process engineer at Alusuisse from 1988 to 1989. He studied nonferrous metallurgy at the University of Leoben and finished his doctoral thesis in 1998. From 2002 to 2009 he worked as the Head of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for secondary metallurgy of nonferrous metals and since 2003 he has been Head of the Institute for Nonferrous Metallurgy at the University of Leoben. The focus of his research is in the field of metallurgy and material science of nonferrous metals as well as recycling of scrap and metal containing by-products.

11:30-11:45
Discussion
11:45-12:15
Recycling innovations to utilise waste into sustainable green metal manufacturing

Speakers

Dr Rumana Hossain, Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology, SMaRT@UNSW, University of New South Wales, Australia

Dr Rumana Hossain, Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology, SMaRT@UNSW, University of New South Wales, Australia

Recipient of an Australian Postgraduate award, Dr Rumana Hossain is a material scientist and engineer, an expert on innovative solutions for waste challenges. Her research experience of working with industries and in research commercialisation promotes a culture of innovation to particularly bridge the gap between pure and applied research to transform waste into valuable materials for sustainable manufacturing and environment. Her research activities at SMaRT@UNSW Sydney includes leading industrial projects for waste recycling solutions, publishing in high-impact journals, and building strong networks across diverse industries, communities, national and international research institutions.

12:15-12:30
Discussion
12:30-13:30
Lunch
13:30-18:15
Session 2
4 talks
13:30-14:00
On the influence of alloying elements on the combustion and regeneration of sustainable iron fuel

Speakers

Dr Laurine Choisez, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

Dr Laurine Choisez, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

Dr-Ing Laurine Choisez is currently working at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, as chargé de recherche FNRS on the topic of sustainable iron powder fuel. She started working on iron fuel during her post-doc at the Max-Planck Institute for Iron Research in 2021. She received her PhD in 2021 at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, where she also graduated as a materials science engineer in 2016. She also had the opportunity of studying martensitic transformation in ceramic shape memory alloys in 2015 at MIT. Her current research interests lie from metal fuel, iron combustion and hydrogen-based reduction of iron ores to beta-metastable Ti alloys, damage mechanisms and defect tolerant materials for 3D printing. Dr Choisez received the Chair Lhoist Berghmans grant in 2015, the FNRS grant for doctoral researcher in 2016 and the FNRS grant for postdoc research, received in 2022.

14:00-14:15
Discussion
14:15-14:45
Residues from nonferrous metallurgical industry – a potential future supply source for scarce metals

Speakers

PD Assistant Professor Stefan Steinlechner, Christian Doppler Laboratory, Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria

PD Assistant Professor Stefan Steinlechner, Christian Doppler Laboratory, Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria

Stefan Steinlechner studied metallurgy at the Montanuniversität Leoben in Austria and defended his PhD in the year 2013. Since then, he has been working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Nonferrous Metallurgy. From 2014 to 2018 Stefan Steinlechner was responsible for a Research-Studio-Austria focusing on energy and resource efficiency in metal recycling from industrial residues. In 2018 he was appointed the venia docendi for the metallurgy of nonferrous metals and since 2020 he has been Head of the "Christian Doppler Laboratory for the selective recovery of minor metals using innovative process concepts". 

14:45-15:00
Discussion
15:00-15:30
Break
15:30-16:00
The role of co-product valorisation and grass-roots cooperation in sustainable metals systems

Speakers

Dr Annelies Malfliet, KU Leuven, Belgium

Dr Annelies Malfliet, KU Leuven, Belgium

Dr Ir Annelies Malfliet is a research expert at the Department of Materials Engineering at the KU Leuven, where she is affiliated to the group of High Temperature Processes and Industrial Ecology. Her expertise lies in the field of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, in particular on high temperature metal processing, residue valorisation, metal recovery and vessel integrity. Annelies Malfliet is coordinator of the Centre for High Temperature Processes and Sustainable Materials Management, which is a close collaboration between the research group and leading metallurgical companies in Flanders. She is also member of the steering group of Flanders Metals Valley (FMV), a network of metallurgical companies, research institutes and universities in and around Flanders to stimulate enthusing education and groundbreaking research in the field of climate-neutral and circular metallurgy. She is author of 73 peer-reviewed publications and 7 book chapters. 

16:00-16:15
Discussion
16:15-17:00
Poster flash talks
17:00-18:15
Poster session
09:00-12:30
Session 3
4 talks
09:00-09:30
Reuse, remanufacturing and recycling in the steel sector

Speakers

Professor Claire Davis, WMG, University of Warwick, UK

Professor Claire Davis, WMG, University of Warwick, UK

Professor Claire Davis holds a RAEng / Tata Steel Chair in Low Energy Steel Processing and leads the Advanced Steel Research Centre at WMG, University of Warwick. Claire’s research interests are the links between steel microstructure-processing- properties and she works in close collaboration with the steel industry. She is a member of the EPSRC funded Manufacturing the Future Hub SUSTAIN, which aims to deliver cutting edge science and the engineering research required to create carbon neutral, resource-efficient UK steel supply chains, and the UKRI funded interdisciplinary centre CircularMetal working towards full metal circularity with a focus on steel and aluminium.  

09:30-09:45
Discussion
09:45-10:15
Criticality of sustainable metals: mining, modern innovation, consumption and the limits to the circular economy

Speakers

Dr Kathryn Moore, Cambourne School of Mines, University of Exeter, UK

Dr Kathryn Moore, Cambourne School of Mines, University of Exeter, UK

Kate Moore is a geologist and specialist in Critical and Green Technology Metals at the Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter (UK). Her 30 years of interdisciplinary research experience include: metal ore-forming geological systems; the scales of mining and diffusion of innovation to improve security of supply of metals; technical and societal innovations towards sustainable futures; and knowledge-sharing in the circular economy. She was a finalist for a European Commission (Futurium) Innovation Radar Prize for Women-led Innovation in 2019 and a Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society medallist for excellence in science in 2023.

10:15-10:30
Discussion
10:30-11:00
Break
11:00-11:30
Artificial intelligence methods in sustainable metallurgy

Speakers

Dr Ziyuan Rao, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Germany

Dr Ziyuan Rao, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Germany

Dr Ziyuan Rao is the research group leader of the group ‘Artificial Intelligence for Materials Science’ at the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research (MPIE). He earned his MS in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. After that, he pursued his PhD studies at MPIE under the guidance of Professor Dierk Raabe. In 2021, he successfully obtained his PhD degree from RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and subsequently continued as a post-doctoral fellow at MPIE. He was appointed as a research group leader at MPIE starting in 2023. His research centres on applying artificial intelligence to materials science, encompassing alloy design, experimental data analysis, text data mining, and interpretable artificial intelligence techniques.

11:30-11:45
Discussion
11:45-12:15
Crystallization process design for control of metal salt purity, size and morphology

Speakers

Professor Kerstin Forsberg, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Professor Kerstin Forsberg, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Kerstin Forsberg is Professor of Chemical Engineering and Head of the Division for Resource Recovery at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Her research is focused on separation processes, with a specialization in crystallization and precipitation of metal salts. She often applies this knowledge to develop sustainable processes for recovery of resources from waste. She is chair of the Hydrometallurgy and Electrometallurgy Committee at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society TMS and member of the scientific committee for the International Workshop on Industrial Crystallization BIWIC. Furthermore, she promotes multidisciplinary collaboration as deputy director of the platform for industrial transformation at KTH.

12:15-12:30
Discussion
12:30-13:30
Lunch
13:30-17:00
Session 4
4 talks
13:30-14:00
Design strategies for lower impact construction

Speakers

Dr Cyrille Dunant, University of Cambridge, UK

Dr Cyrille Dunant, University of Cambridge, UK

After a masters in mechanical engineering and a PhD in material science looking at concrete durability, he has since moving to Cambridge looked at how materials could be better used in the built environment. He has studied barriers to steel reuse and the role of risk in supply chain reconfiguration. He has developed PANDA, a structural scheme design tool, now distributed by a spin-off company, which allows early-stage interventions in structural design to save both cost and carbon. Recently, he has developed a novel way of recycling cement electrically as a co-product of steel recycling, possibly opening the way to the first scalable route for zero-emissions Portland cement production.

14:00-14:15
Discussion
14:15-14:45
Fossil-free ironmaking, recycling oriented alloys design, lean and impurity-tolerant alloys

Speakers

Professor Dierk Raabe, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Germany

Professor Dierk Raabe, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Germany

Dierk Raabe studied music, metallurgy and metal physics. After his doctorate in 1992 and habilitation in 1997 at RWTH Aachen he received a Heisenberg Fellowship of the German Research Foundation and worked as postdoc at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA) and at the National High Magnet Field Lab (Tallahassee, USA). He joined the Max Planck Society as a Director in 1999. His interests are in computational materials science, sustainable metallurgy, phase transformation, alloy design, hydrogen and atom probe tomography. He received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award of the German Science Foundation, two ERC Advanced Grants and the Acta Materialia Gold Medal Award. He is a Professor at RWTH Aachen in Germany and Honorary Professor at KU Leuven in Belgium. He holds an honorary doctorate degree of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim and is a member of the German National Academy Leopoldina.

14:45-15:00
Discussion
15:00-15:30
Break
15:30-16:00
Matching metal supply and demand when electricity and carbon storage are constrained

Speakers

Professor Julian M Allwood FREng, University of Cambridge, UK

Professor Julian M Allwood FREng, University of Cambridge, UK

Julian Allwood is Professor of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Cambridge and directs the Use Less Group. His research aims to articulate a pathway to zero emissions based on technologies that already exist at scale. From 2019–24 he is director of UK FIRES, a £5m industry and multi-university programme aiming to explore all aspects of Industrial Strategy compatible with delivering zero emissions by 2050. Julian was a Lead Author of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with a focus on mitigating industrial emissions. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Materials, Minerals and Mining, a Fellow of the International Academy of Production Engineering and for ten years was joint editor-in-chief of the Journal of Materials Processing Technology. In 2021 he was awarded the triennial JSTP International Prize for Research and Development in Precision Forging.

16:00-16:15
Discussion
16:15-17:00
Panel discussion